Mufasas Story
by youcanreachthestars
Summary: ""You are to be the new king, my son." The cub blinked. "You will be king of the Pridelands when I am no longer here. You will rule over these lands in my place. I name you Mufasa. Appropriately, it means king"" This is Mufasas Story. Mufasa/Sarabi
1. Uru

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Lion King. ;-;

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Uru roared, a sound of pure, raw agony. She writhed on the dirty rock floor, her fangs bared, and her breath rasping in her throat. Ahadi, King of the Pridelands, took a cautious step towards his wife. She bared her teeth at him viciously, her eyes rolling in her head, so all he could see was milky whiteness. He reared back, and stood watching from a distance. He saw the lioness he loved twisting and turning, her beautiful fur matted and filthy, shining with sweat. He saw the pain she was going through. And he saw his son come into the world.

A tiny, bloodied ball of damp fur, sticking up in spikes all over his body. Uru wearily reached out a paw and drew the cub closer in to her, her front leg curled protectively around him, as she lay on her side. She was still panting heavily, and her eyes were flickering all around the room, too fast to be normal.

Ahadi frowned, his brow creasing slightly, then sprang forwards as she arched her back suddenly and roared, loader than before, loader than any lion he had ever heard.

"URU!" he roared, despair lacing his voice. He knew what was happening. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. He could see his own legs, pounding the cave floor as he raced towards her, small puffs of dust rising up as each paw slammed into the ground. He could see Uru rising up into the air, then falling, thudding to the ground with a final sort of 'whumph'. He saw the light fading from her eyes, her sides stilling, the breaths from her jaws slowing to a halt.

Ahadi stood beside his wife, staring down at her. _No. Uru. No._ This couldn't be happening. This wasn't real, this was a dream. He spun around in a frenzy, his mind jumbled, unsure of what to do.

The sound of a cub crying.

The other lionesses outside, waiting for Uru to emerge, exhausted but triumphant, with a newborn cub in her mouth.

His brother, Raku, stalking in through the entrance, a confident smirk defining his pointed sneering face.

"Raku?" Ahadi's voice dripped with helplessness. He was all alone.

"Brother." Raku's voice was cold and unfeeling. "Are you alright?"

Ahadi bowed his head, shoulders slackened with despair.

"Uru," he moaned, then his voice cracked, and he slumped to the ground in defeat.

Raku's face swam into view above his own, a tiny cub in between his teeth. The trap opened, and the cub squeaked as it fell to the floor in front of his father's face. He shook his head slightly, and raised his face to his fathers. They were almost nose to nose. Ahadi blinked. The cub's face was almost identical to his mothers, but he had his father's jaw, and his own eyes, a pool of reddish-brown, so deep you could look into them forever and not reach the bottom.

"You are to be the new king, my son." The cub blinked at him. "You will be king of the Pridelands when I am no longer here. You will rule over these lands in my place. I name you Mufasa. Appropriately, it means _king_."

Raku had stepped back during this little speech, and was watching the interaction between the king and his new son. The ghost of a snarl flickered across his face, as jealousy bubbled up inside of him. _He deserved to be king._


	2. Ahadi

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lion King. I wish I did, but I don't.**

**A/N: Let me just say thanks very much to the reviewers, I feel rather stupid for getting the names wrong. They're changed now, though! I haven't read the actual books, so let me know if I make any more blatant, obvious errors. (This isn't strictly Canon though, so only if it's really important.)**

**Thankyou especially to the Anonymous review, it made my night. :)**

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"Dad, dad, dad!" Mufasa pranced around his father, snatching at his ears and tail playfully. "C'mon dad, fight me!"

"Not now son." Ahadi was distracted. The bull elephants were stampeding again, and according to Buki, his hornbill messenger, they were on their most violent and destructive rampage yet. "Go play on your own for a while. I don't have time right now. I'll do it later. I'm busy."

Mufasa's head drooped. His shoulder-blades hunched, and he turned away from his father. "Fine." Ahadi didn't notice his son's disappointment. He was too busy conversing with Buki on how best to stop it before it reached the waterhole.

_

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_

He's always 'too busy'. Sure, being King is hard, but can't he take like, ten minutes out of his day to spend a little time with me? After all, I'm his only child. And the future king. Don't I mean a little more to him than that?

Mufasa was sulking. He deserved better than this. And didn't he need to practise his fighting so he could hunt soon? He needed to be big and strong like his father, so he could take down bull elephant rampages like the one happening at the moment. He gazed out to the canyon, where he could see great billowing clouds of dust rising up in the air, dimming the sun and casting a brownish haze over the Pridelands. A flicker of movement caught his eye, and he looked down to see a golden smear racing out towards the dust cloud.

_Go play on your own for a while._ His father's words spun around and around in his head, stinging. So degrading. But could they possibly have another meaning?

"Uncle Raku! Uncle!" Mufasa paced Pride Rock, searching for his uncle.

"Yes, my little prince?" The smooth, charming voice echoed out of the shadows in the back of the cave. "How may I be of service?" He emerged out of the darkness, the light glinting off his tan coat, yet the darkness stayed trapped in his eyes. He knelt into a mocking bow, leaning forward, yet still taller than the cub.

"Dad's gone out to stop the stampede."

"Yes, I know."

"Do- do you think-"

"He meant for you to help as well? Yes, absolutely, young one. Your father didn't fight with you, because he knew that your own strength far surpassed his own. You are far too skilled for play fighting. When your father said to you, 'play on your own', he meant 'come and help me stop the elephants'. He couldn't say this to you aloud because the other lionesses would disapprove, but you, Mufasa, you are special. You have to help Ahadi, you're his only hope now. You're big and strong, go and help him. Stand in the path of the elephants. Roar at them, roar louder than your father. They'll stop for you, they will. Go, run, and stop them before they hurt your father."

Little Mufasa, cold with dread, adrenaline flowing through his veins, turned to the entrance of the cave, and ran.

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As he approached the canyon, his pace slowed a little. He could see his father in the distance, a proud, majestic figure, conversing fervently with Buki. Mufasa grinned, a sharp-toothed little smile, cheeky and confident. He could show his father how it would be done.

He edged closer to the side of the canyon, and looked down to the tide of raging bull elephants below. He opened his mouth to roar, to stop them, but before he could, he saw Buki fly overhead, and squawk a warning to Ahadi.

"MAJESTY! THE PRINCE! HE IS HERE!"

Mufasa choked, a growling cough exploding out of his mouth, as he was startled out of his sense of balance. Tripping over his own overlarge paws he tipped sideways, and began to tumble down the side of the canyon.

Tiny pebbles, dust, and dead leaves filled his mouth, blocking his airways, as he thudded down the steep slope. Crashing into pinnacles, bringing slabs of sandstone down with him, he fell steadily nearer to the flowing tide of elephants. Squashing his eyes tight shut, he mewled pathetically, but was instantly stopped, as more rubble went down his throat.

_This is it, this is the end. I loved my life, I loved my father, why was I so stupid? I couldn't do this, what made me think I could do this? It's one thing to believe in yourself, like Uncle Raku believed in me, but it's a whole other matter to go completely beyond your boundaries into something you know you can't possibly accomplish. I wish I had been a little better to my-_

Suddenly, pure force barged into him from the side, sending him barrelling sideways, to land, sprawling, on a small rock ledge. He eased one eye open, to see his father, Ahadi, leaping over him, then turning around to say something. But before he could even open his mouth, the half of the rock ledge his father was standing on cracked, a single jagged line, like a scar, with a sound like gunfire. Ahadi's eyes opened wide in alarm, and he scrambled frantically to hold on to the side of the ledge, to hold on to his life. His sharp claws made ear-splitting screeches, scraping along and snatching at tiny flaws in the rock surface, sending them tumbling down to the abyss below.

Mufasa took a quick step towards his father, but without warning, a large slab of rock crumbled beneath Ahadi's paws, and he, along with various pebbles and dead weeds, was falling, falling, to disappear into the cloud of dust in the bottom of the canyon.

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A/N: See that little button down the bottom? Yeah, that's a review button. Press it and type something, and you get a virtual cookie.


	3. Daddy

**A/N: It might be seeming a little similar to The Lion King at the moment, but it isn't intentional. And it'll change and go off on its own course very soon.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything, obviously. Other than Raku, Buki, and any other characters you don't recognise to be Disney's.**

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There was only silence. Not comfortable silence like when you're devouring a carcass and everyone's too busy eating to talk, nor that eerie calm silence when you feel like you're the only thing in existence, standing on the tip of pride rock at night and looking out over the Pridelands, all illuminated softly by the moonlight. No. This silence was a devastating silence. Loud, and yet so quiet. Rushing, yet still. This was the silence of a death. Of a lion, of the land.

The dust was beginning to settle, tiny particles slowly floating down to the ravaged earth. The bottom of the canyon was permanently scarred. Enormous hollows had been carved into the surface from the rampaging elephants. Through the brown mist, crooked, skeleton-like tree branches lay on the ground, limp and broken.

Within the haze, clouded by the dust, a small figure could be seen, padding along, skirting around the dead limbs and sticking to the edges of the canyon. A desolate voice could be heard, calling through the distance.

_Dad?_

The sound echoed through the canyon, bouncing off the walls, returning to the cub as his only companion. He had never felt more alone in his life. Everywhere he looked, all he could see were mounds of lionflesh, his father, dead, crushed by boulders, his father, dead, impaled on a tree branch, his father, dead, trampled by elephants. Everywhere he looked.

Shadows flickered through the haze, darting all around Mufasa, laughing softly, quietly. He spun around, the world blurring in front of him.

_Daddy, help me..._

His eyes locked onto one particular shadow, which seemed more solid than the rest, more real. The young prince advanced towards it apprehensively, one paw after another, slowly, slowly, his senses sharp and alert.

_Who's there?_

The shadow solidified, hardening into a defined shape, an elephant? A gazelle- no. A lion.

_Daddy! Oh, Daddy, I'm so-_

"Mufasa, little prince, how glad I am that you are safe."

Raku.

Mufasa could see that it was him now. Ahadi was too muscular, too sturdy to be mistaken for his scrawny brother.

"Come with me, little prince. I will take you to the king- he is alive! But only just. We do not have much time left."

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"Daddy?"

"Mufasa."

There was Ahadi's voice. Warm, strong, coated with love and a comradeship that cannot be found outside a father-son relationship.

"Daddy, I-"

"No son, it's alright. Don't apologise, you... you didn't..." His voice trailed off, and he gave a weak, dusty cough, that went on and on. The cough of a dying soul.

Without warning, Raku appeared behind the dying ruler. He placed a paw on his brother's back.

"What did you have to say to your son, Ahadi?" Out of Mufasa's line of vision, Raku's paw tensed, claws emerged, and dug into the golden fur slightly. Not enough to pierce the skin, but enough for a reminder, for a warning.

"Son." Ahadi's crimson eyes flickered up to his brother, pleading, but found no relief. "Son. Your- your Uncle Raku-" The claws dug in a little further, pricking the fragile skin, releasing tiny beads of blood. "He is to be ruler in my place. You- you will be in his care, do as he says, always, I-" The dying lion dissolved into another bout of hacking coughs. His body arched as he lay on the ground, similar to how his wife's body was, moments before she died. Raku's paw lifted, and he placed it on Mufasa's head.

"Young prince, now that I am ruler, I believe that perhaps you should-" His words were cut off, as with a mighty roar, Ahadi defiantly staggered to his feet, swaying, battered his brother away. And in his last moments, his very last moments as a father, as a ruler, as a lion, he declared, "Mufasa, when you reach maturity, when you are ready, then you shall be king, and you will take your place in the Great Circle of Life.

I love you."

And with a final, quiet breath, King Ahadi was still. The greatest ruler of the pridelands was no more.

And Mufasa?

Mufasa could only stare.

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	4. Taka

"I'm Taka." A voice of indifference. Superiority.

"Mufasa."

A silence. Then the same voice spoke again.

"So why are you at Pride Rock? I haven't seen you before."

"I'm Raku's son. He tries to keep me away from riff-raff like you. I'm gonna be king of the Pridelands when I grow up. Dad told me that when Mum was alive she was the queen, so I get to be king when I'm old enough."

"That's stupid. I'm going to be ruler of the Pridelands, my father said so."

"And who's your father, then?"

"Ahadi."

A pause.

"But he's _dead_. What are you, buzzard kill? You got a brain somewhere in that huge head of yours?"

"You think I don't know that he's dead?" Defensive.

A sizing up.

"Are you challenging me?"

"I don't know. Am I?"

Eyeballing each other, the two cubs turned tail on each other and stalked in opposite directions. Mufasa turned suddenly.

"Hey wait..."

"What?"

"You realise we're brothers, right? Like, stepbrothers? My mother was Uru as well."

"So?"

"I just thought I'd say."

"I don't like you, Goldie. This changes nothing."

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The raw smell of antelope meat hung tantalisingly on the breeze. Taka and his father hunched protectively over the dripping carcass, fresh from the savannah.

Mufasa took a tentative step forward, and the two whipped their heads around, a threatening snarl coating their faces.

"Step away, Mufasa. This is our kill."

"Get your own food."

Mufasa's eyes were dull and listless, so different from the glowing crimson sparks he had when Ahadi was alive. What Raku or Taka said was law. Mufasa's voice rasped out from between his teeth, disguising the anger as submission.

"Yes Uncle, brother."

He made to move out of the cave, but was stopped by his brother's tail.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"To get food, Taka."

"No! You aren't going anywhere, you have to help me sharpen my nails."

"But-"

"ARE YOU DEFYING MY SON?"

"No Uncle Raku, I just-"

"YOU ARE. YOU ARE DEFYING HIM. You stay here. You don't go out. You don't have food. You may leave WHEN I TELL YOU. Is that understood?"

A pause, then- Defeated. Downcast.

"Yes Uncle."

The eyes blinked shut, as Mufasa lay down to sleep on the cold rock floor of the cave.

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A tiny motion to his left caught Mufasa's eye. A young lioness cub, roughly his own age, perhaps a little younger, crouched low in the grasses, ready to pounce on Buki.

He saw her lean body slinking forwards, well-developed muscles rippling under her creamy fur, head bowed and shoulder blades rising and falling elegantly with each step. Mufasa gave a small, sharp-toothed grin, and loped easily towards her, silent as the wind, fast as an antelope. As he neared her back, he slowed, until he was still. The hunter was hunted. He saw her tense up, shrink a fraction lower to the ground. Just as her hind legs were about to spring out and suspend her in the air, hovering over the clueless hornbill, he leapt on her, claws hidden, and tumbled to the ground on top of her.

"Pinned ya."

"Who are you? Get off me! Hey! What are you-"

Mufasa scrambled off her, shocked. One eyebrow cocked.

"God, it was just a bit of fun."

The lioness' eyes, blue like his mother's, stared into his own red ones, clear and piercing. She gave a slight smile, bordering on a smirk, the corner of her mouth twisting up. Mufasa could only stare. She was beautiful.

"So who are you, then? If you jump on me, you owe me that, at least." Her voice was like rich honey.

"Mufasa. And you?"

Her head lowered, and she peered out at him from underneath thick lashes, her eyes like little pieces of the sky.

"Ahadi's son?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Sarabi."

* * *

Peals of bubbly, bell-like laughter echoed around the waterhole. Two young lion cubs, one a rich golden colour, the other creamy, almost white, both drenched. Mufasa's half-mane was flattened to his neck, plastered down by the water in straggly paths of red.

Water soared through the air, enormous glinting arcs of transparent liquid, going up, then falling with a loud _slap!_.

"Ow, Sarabi, why d'you have to be such a good shot!"

Half of Mufasa's face seemed to be sagging, as the fresh water hitting his face dragged his fur down, dripping steadily. Sarabi could only giggle.

Unbeknownst to both of them, Taka watched from the bushes, a glint of jealousy in one eye, a glint of cruelty in the other. Glowing eyes.

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A paw, solid and heavy as a club, hammered into Mufasa's side, sending shots of pain through his ribs and vibrating into his legs. He spasmed on the floor, writing in pain. It was as though millions of volts of electricity were zapping his insides, again and again.

He curled up, vunerable, weak, not caring anymore. Razor-sharp claws dug into his coat and dragged through it, leaving bloody tears, ragged edges, red rivers worming their way through the golden fur.

Mufasa's mouth twisted into an agonised grin, and Taka giggled. A sound of poison.

"Enjoying this, brother? I can see you smiling, so you must be."

_Taka is doing this to me. He is my own flesh and blood, but he has never proven himself to be a brother._"Brother..." The hoarse, whispered plea leaked out of Mufasa's mouth. "Please..."

Taka stared for a moment, his eyes widening. A spark of kindness flared up in the centre of them, dancing in the light from the sun. Mufasa raised his head slightly, hardly daring to believe it.

But without warning, a smooth, acidic voice was heard.

"Taka? Have you completed the job?"

"I- nearly father. Almost."

"Good. And when you're done, I want you to-"

A sudden roar, shattering the air. Mufasa lurched to his feet, swaying slightly, his head tilted. He laid his unfocused eyes on Taka, and advanced. He raised a paw. _Revenge_.

The golden limb sliced through the air, sliced through his brother's face. A single red streak. It would leave a scar.

Mufasa snarled, "You are supposed to be my brother, my flesh and blood. You are no brother to me. I tried to be friendly, no, I tried to be your friend, but all I have ever experienced at your paws is cruelty." He turned to Raku. "And yours too. My father left me in your care, but I know that all you want is to be king."

"How dare you..." Raku's voice was like a knife. "How dare you question my authority. How dare you harm my son. You are never to leave this cave again."

Taka only gazed at Mufasa. Mufasa shook his head slightly, then peered deep into Taka's eyes. The flame of kindness was long extinguished. All his eyes were now were cold, hard pebbles. Dull brown slate, the only emotion in them a raging fury. Then he spoke.

"Let me take care of it father. I will bring him to his knees."

His head was raised. Eyes glaring. Shoulders back. A sneering lion, ready to defend his position, family, and pride. He would do whatever it took.


	5. Sarabi

Sarabi's shoulders hunched, as she sat on the lip of a cliff, drowning in the blood-red sunset. The crimson light dripped down the sky to rest where she couldn't see it, behind the horizon. As the sky slowly darkened, tiny pearly tears slid down her face, sticking a small trail of her fur together, leaving darkened tracks. She felt so empty. He was gone. Disappeared. Mufasa. He didn't know how much she loved him. How much she cared. And she didn't know where he went, what had happened to him.

The only thing she knew had been told to her by Taka, his creepy elder brother, and his Uncle Raku. According to them, Mufasa no longer wanted to be a part of 'Taku's Pride', and had gone off to start his own, a coward who could not deal with being second-best. But Sarabi didn't believe it.

She stared out over the rest of the Pridelands, and bowed her head.

"Mufasa," she whispered, on the verge of sobbing. "Mufasa, where are you? I need you."

Lying on the cold hard rock that night, she slept fitfully, restlessly. Mufasa paced in an out of her dreams, weaving in between multiple Pride Rock's and canyons filled with rocks, sharpened bloody edges, and Raku and Taka standing side by side on the tallest one, roaring in triumph. Then Mufasa at the bottom of the canyon, wedged between rocks, bloodied and panting, his breath slowly leaving his body...

Then the nightmares morphed into memories. Clearer quality, more vibrant, more realistic.

Sarabi was reliving her favourite memory of Mufasa. Under any other circumstance it would have been euphoric, to relive this, but now it felt more like torture, just reminding herself that he was gone, and probably wasn't coming back.

_The two lay on their backs in the grass, forepaws raised slightly, eyes closed. It was that time of night when everything was dead still, and Sarabi felt as if she and Mufasa were the only two living things in the entire world. The air was damp with dew, and the night was cool, but the skies were a clear navy blue, and pinpricks of light dotted the canvas above them._

"_My father..." Mufasa's voice broke the silence. Sarabi shifted herself so she could look at him, and noticed that his eyes were open, wide, and he was staring up to the sky. She could see the stars reflected in his eyes, sparks of white light shining across their surface._

"_My father used to tell me that all the great kings of the past are up there. Watching over us." He paused, seeming to gather his thoughts. "You're only one I've ever told that to."_

_Sarabi gave a soft smile, as her heart swelled for his sake. He had lost his father so young, and all she could do was try to love him more. But he couldn't know. He was prince, soon to be king, despite his uncle and brother, and she was merely the daughter of one of the lionesses of the pride. She had no status whatsoever._

_Mufasa let his head fall to the side so he could see her reaction, and her smile widened slightly. Her eyes glowed softly, and Mufasa could see that, contradictory to the stars reflected in his own, the moon was reflected in hers, the full moon, a single radiant orb._

"_Thankyou for telling me," whispered Sarabi. She shuffled closer to him, feeling the wet grass under her fur, until she was nestled into his side. He draped a paw over her side, and she snuggled into his chest. She fit exactly into it, as though it had been moulded just for her. She gave a sudden yawn, and Mufasa stroked her side._

"_You sleep. I'll be here. I'll watch over you."_

_She could sleep now. She knew she would be safe._

_..._

**Three Hours Ago**

Raku sneered at Mufasa. "You heard me. Leave! And I'm not joking about your little girlfriend, either! Make any sort of contact with her ever again, and I'll kill you. You know that Taka's made it quite clear that _he_ wants her, and what my son wants, he gets! I'm giving you this one chance to live, but now you're going! Understand? Don't come back!"

And with a parting swipe at his head, Raku roared, and Mufasa leapt from the cave, pearly tears streaming down his face. He couldn't let anyone see him. He had to go, already Sarabi was in danger. If it was one thing he knew about his uncle, it was that he didn't break his word.

He ran down the naturally-formed staircase down the side of Pride Rock, and towards the canyon. His thoughts were jumbled and messy, spinning, bouncing, ricocheting off the sides of his mind. Sarabi. Ahadi. Taka. Raku. Buki. Uru.

All the ones who meant anything to him, good or bad, were streaming through his brain, taking over his thoughts. Then, he tripped, and tumbled forwards, grazing the side of his face along the hard, sun-baked savannah ground, a cloud of dark brown dust rising up around him. He scrambled to his feet, wincing, and saw that he was directly nearby the waterhole. He staggered towards it, one paw useless, hanging limply from his body like a puppet.

He lowered his head to wash the side of his face, but before he did, he noticed something odd about his reflection. His entire body was patchy. Roughly half of it was the normal golden colour, but the other half was a darker brown, almost red. The dust! The dust had camoflagued him. Mufasa barely recognised himself, as he stared at his reflection. He only knew half of himself.

But suddenly, an idea sprung into his mind, washing away any negative thoughts of never going back.


	6. Scar

**Sarabi's POV**

It was as though there was a continuous ache, deep inside my gut. A Mufasa-shaped ache. I missed him so much that it had turned into a sort of physical illness. My mother knew something was wrong with me, and had a general idea of what was going on, so she ordered me to rest for a week. Despite my usually active livelihood, I welcomed the opportunity to not have to do anything, especially now that Taka was on my tail.

Ever since Mufasa left, the sleazeball had been almost _stalking_ me, following me when I went for hunts, coincidentally meeting me down at the waterhole, insisting on inviting me to dinner with he and his father, claiming that he could relate to what I was going through with missing Mufasa, and perhaps they could talk about it.

I declined the offer, obviously.

I lay in the shade of a small outcrop at the base of Pride Rock, consumed by my thoughts. My eyes were half-open and staring straight up towards the sky, but they were glazed over, and I wasn't looking at anything in particular. I was too busy thinking about Mufasa.

I missed him so much. He wasn't here to laugh with anymore. Did he even love me? If he'd loved me, wouldn't he have come back and found me? Or taken me with him?

I heard a rustle in the grasses nearby, and within half a second, I was on my feet, hope blazing in my eyes. When we were cubs, Mufasa used to hid e in the grasses, then spring on me, pinning me down. It was like a little game. My senses reached their peak, my mind was whirling. Mufasa had come back, he was here!

"Mufasa?" I stepped towards the clumps of grass, unevenly bunched together as though they had been scattered carelessly by a greater being. "Mufasa! Oh Mufasa, where are-" I stopped. I could see a small tuft of pair poking out of the edge of a certain large cluster of grasses. It was black.

Hostility clouded my vision, sudden rage overtaking my entire mind, mingled with despair at the fact that it was not Mufasa who had returned, but some other lion, intruding on my space, on my private time. Some other lion, who had crushe my hope and dreams, destroying my elation that my love Mufasa had returned.

My shoulderblades risen, razor-sharp teeth bared in a terrifying grin. I stalked towards the grasses. I would make them pay for sending my joy crashing to the ground, shattering on the hard baked savannah ground. How dare they.

I came closer and closer to the grasses, then suddenly, with a vicious swipe of my paw, I ripped aside the grasses, pulling them out by the roots and scattering them all over the ground to my left.

I gaped down at the snivelling, weak, vunerable lion beneath me, who had one paw raised to protect his face.

"Hey, hey, it's just me! Calm down, pretty, it's only me. Only your Taka." I almost retched there and then. _My_ Taka? Since when was he _my _Taka?

"Were you WATCHING me, Scar?" He twitched at the name, and rubbed his eye subconsciously. The scar Mufasa had given him just before he left was his crowning feature, and after myself calling him 'Scar' rather mockingly, once, the nickname had stuck. Not that he liked it, of course.

"N- no, sugarbee. I wasn't watching you, I was simply.. I mean... that is to say... I was only lying here thinking about how... how... how much I missed Mufasa."

I continued to glare at him, my gaze coated in fury.

"And- and also how... beautiful you are." He slunk towards me, a sleazy grin on his face, eyelids lowered seductively. "Sarabi…"he purred. "Sarabi..." He paused for a moment, as though considering whether to say something, then his resolve seemed to harden. His face set, and he looked at me pityingly, as though what he was about to tell me was terribly sad, and would positively destroy my life.

"Sarabi... Mufasa- he, well, you have to understand that... hard as it is to accept, you need to realise that he's gone, Sarabi, and he's not coming back."

"Be quiet." I snarled.

He frowned. He didn't seem to like being spoken to so rudely. A gleam of cruelty I had never seen before was reflected by the sun high in the sky, and I backed up slowly.

"He never loved you."

"What the- go away! Go away Scar! I don't need this, leave me alone!"

"I love you, Sarabi."

"Taka, I-"

"He didn't love you, he never loved you, why would he love you? -"

"SHUT UP!"

He lowered his voice to a soft growl. "Take me as your mate. We would be perfect together. I _want_ you, you sexy lioness, I _want_ your- OUCH!"

I had lashed out with my paw, scraping it down the side of his face. His original scar had not yet completely healed. My claw had reopened the wound, splitting it, and slowly, a bead of blood gathered at the bottom and slowly travelled down his scrawny face. I stared at the reddened tip of my claw, and licked it slowly off, revelling in the taste of blood-tinted success. It calmed me to know that Mufasa had probably done the same. It was some sort of a link to him, since he couldn't be with me here and now.

"Never mention Mufasa to me again," I whispered, then stalked away, leaving him, small and helpless, alone in the clearing.

**

* * *

Mufasa POV**

I raced towards Pride Rock, my senses buzzing. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. My now-darker mane whipped around my ears like a halo, almost black, rather than my original red colour. As I was running, I flicked my head around to survey my body once more, just quickly. Perhaps I was being paranoid, but I couldn't take any chances of Taka or Raku knowing who I was. My eyes scoured my fur, a deep chocolatey brown now, so very different from my original golden coat. The only problem was my voice, and my eyes.

I mumbled incoherently under my breath, testing out accents, different pitches, high, low, even a mixture of both, but it didn't work. My voice still sounded my own. But suddenly, an idea leapt, fully formed, into my mind, in the form of a sandstorm.

I dug my forepaw into the warm savannah heat beneath me, and saw the smooth sand, tiny particles rolling over each other as I scooped it up in my paw.

Bracing myself for the uncomfortable ordeal to follow, I raised my paw to my lips, and choked down the sand.

* * *

"There's a new lion here! He's come to challenge Raku and Taka!" The cry went up all over Pride Rock. Sitting in the shade under a tree near the rock, Sarabi raised her head. She knew of Mufasa's cunning, his wittiness and intelligence. She knew he had come back to her. She knew she could love him again.

* * *

I pulled up short when I saw the small crowd gathered at the bottom of Pride Rock. What was going on? I could see the tiny heads turn towards me as though pulled magnetically, and several took forceful steps towards me. I pushed forward, step by step, my breathing harsh in my throat from the gravel I had swallowed. As I approached them, I observed the enormous African sun, a ball of pure heat and light, sinking down below the horizon, casting eerie shadows over the savannah, and sending the gathering into black silhouette. Smears of orange flame covered the sky, with crumbs of yellow daylight lingering behind, before being sucked into the vivid explosion. I neared the group. I was able to recognise some of them now. Kaandra. Mikari. Tulu. And, at the very front, side by side, Taka and Raku. Ready to take me on.

I gulped, then raced forwards, prepared to face them once again, and take back what was rightfully mine.


	7. Coward

**A/N: WOOOOT! Last chapter! I hope you've all enjoyed it. Feel free to check out some of my other fics too, from RENT and Harry Potter. :)**

**Disclaimer: Should I even bother explaining? Of course I own Disney, Lion King, etc. *sarcasm***

* * *

My feet were pounding the sands. My breath was raw in my throat. The muscles in my legs screamed in protest, as they began to ache from the long run. But gradually, as the sun sank lower beneath the horizon, Pride Rock came closer and closer, the silhouettes grew more and more defined and my resolve slowly began to weaken.

Heart pounding, I skidded to a stop. I had to turn back. I couldn't do it. What if Sarabi had already met someone else? What if she had a mate? Cubs? And what about the pride? How would they react to seeing me? I had to turn back.

But was I a coward for doing this? Or was I being a lion?

I rotated on the spot, my paws creating tiny mounds of sand, as I twisted- to find an ugly blue face pushed up against mine.

I roared in surprise, and stumbled backwards, landing on my haunches, before jumping to my paws and beginning to run in the opposite direction, away from the monster that had filled my vision.

"Wait! Waiiiiiiiiit! True king, come baaaaaaaaaack! Ahahaha!" I hesitated, slightly gobsmacked at the hyperactive screaming behind me. I turned back around, to find his face in mine again. I stiffened, but didn't move.

"Why- Who- What are you _doing!_"

"Ehehe! That is not the question here! The question, is what are _you _doing?" It was a baboon. His eyes narrowed at me, and he grinned, his teeth showing. He laughed again.

I stared at him. "Are you completely crazy?"

"I don't know! Are you?"

I was lost for words. "What do you want? I'm kind of trying to make a big decision here."

"Walk with me, lion cub."

"I'm not a cub. I'm an adult, you-"

"Ah ah ah. Hold your insults. We shall walk, and then we shall talk." Without warning, he bounded off through the sands, sending up tiny brown puffs behind him.

I dashed after him, struggling to keep up, and my muscles about to give out. I called out, begging him to stop, but he merely wagged a finger at me, his back still turned. I snarled under my breath, and continued. The sand under my feet grew more and more coarse, until it merged into rough, scrubby grasses. There was still nothing on the horizon. He ran down into a steep dip in the land, so that I could no longer see him. Apprehensive, I moved a little slower, waiting to see where he was. He was unpredictable, that monkey.

"AHA!" His face was in front of mine once again. I didn't move. I didn't stiffen. I merely stepped around him and continued moving. "WHY DID YOU NOT RUUUUN?"

"Because I'm not a coward."

"Good." He continued bounding ahead.

I dragged myself after him for a long, long time, until we finally rested under the shade of an enormous tree. "What is this? What do you _want?_"

He merely grinned at me, his gums a bright red, his gleaming teeth set in them firmly. He clacked his jaw several times, motioned to me, and disappeared under the roots.

Cautiously picking my way over the obstacles, I crawled after him, ending up in a small underground cavern. "Wow." The walls were covered in scratches, painting, drawings, of different lions. "Is that... my... my..."

"It is AHADI! AHAHA! Your FATHER! Who was he?"

"The king."

"And WHO. ARE. YOU?"

"His son."

"IDIOT! HYENA! YOU ARE STUPID IN THE BRAIN, YES?"

"What? No! I'm his son, I am!"

"_What else are you?"_

_"_I'm... I'm the king as well. I'm the king."

"Yes. What else are you?"

"Um..."

"Or more to the point, what are you NOT? Think back to the journey here, cub."

"I'm NOT A-" He shoved his face into mine again, grinning horribly. "...why do you keep doing that?"

"You didn't run."

"No, because you did it, like, a hundred times."

"Why else?"

"Because... because I'm not a coward."

"YES! YES! YOU ARE NOT STUPID IN THE BRAIN NOW!"

I growled. "I never..." I trailed off. It was pointless.

"GO GO GO, YOUNG KING! TAKE BACK WHAT YOU RIGHTFULLY OWN! Or are you a COWARD?"

"No."

* * *

I stood in front of Pride Rock, alone in the moonlight washing over the land. I stared up at the giant monolith, taking in the sleeping forms of the lionesses. I smiled, the ache in my heart disappearing. I was home.

* * *

"Sarabi. Hey, Sarabi." I shook her shoulder. She grunted, then gave a growl, and lashed out with her paw. Opening her eyes, the fear slowly drained out to be replaced with jubilant disbelief.

"Oh my god, Mufasa? MUFASA?"

* * *

"Step down."

"Never."

"Step. Down."

"You can't make me."

* * *

"Taka. You could stand by me?"

"No, I am loyal to my father."

"Very well then."

* * *

That night, their bodies burned. The lionesses stood around it in a circle, roaring. The sound completely filled the air, and I stood at the tip of pride rock, my throat swelling, the sound of my royalty filling the air.

I was back.


End file.
